On the heels of last night's 7-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, the Flames head coach finally unloaded on his team publicly.

"I might be patient to you guys," Sutter said of his calm facade.

"You have to continue to get them through it and continue to push. Is that something you like to do as a head coach at this level? No, it isn't. But it's something that has to be done, obviously, with this group.

"But at some point, as individuals, they've got to want to take it. They've got to want to take it and say, 'Let's take it and start holding ourselves accountable. Let's start being accountable to one another. Let's start getting a little upset at each other ...'

"Personally, I don't like that it's too casual. I'm not used to it, to be quite honest. I'm not used to a casual atmosphere. There needs to be a lot more emotion throughout, on a consistent basis, to want to succeed.

"Get upset about stuff. Don't just take it in stride like, 'Oh, there's another day tomorrow.' "

Nearly halfway through last night's game, the Flames were stride for stride with the Hawks. Then they fell apart, said Sutter, due to a lack of mental toughness.

"This isn't just something that's just happened tonight. We just happened to play a very talented team," Sutter said. "This is something that's been addressed with this group since day one. There's too much inconsistency in their game, and the reason why there's too much inconsistency in their game is because there's too much inconsistency in individuals wanting to stay with it for 60 minutes.